Nervous about funneling my fresh Xtol into bags... the manipulation part

[jay moussy]

I am just about to mix Legacy Pro Eco Pro into a big kettle, then pour it into bags, using a small funnel to make the smallish bag opening neck.

I seems to me that it would be safer to ladle the developer into the funnel, at least to start.

Any tips on that kind of operation?

 

[madNbad]

I've made enough soup and stock to know always start with the ladle. Any shortcuts to using a funnel often leads to a lot of cleaning up.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The StopLossBags™ come with a collapsible funnel. Be sure to push the narrow end of the funnel over the bag threads. The funnel if fully attached does not come off. www.StopLossBags.com

 

[jay moussy]

The StopLossBags™ come with a collapsible funnel. Be sure to push the narrow end of the funnel over the bag threads. The funnel if fully attached does not come off. www.StopLossBags.com

Well, I did not get the dedicated SLB funnel, but I have small neck ones I can use and secure somewhat to the neck.

I will ladle out with a small Pyrex glass measuring cup.

 

[madNbad]

How long will it last in the bag? Do you work with one bag then save the others?

 

[jay moussy]

Five one-liter bags, venting out air space and recapping.
Eco Pro 1:1

Don't judge, all new-to me, I am graduating from Rodinal - but not leaving the church, just exploring...

 

[madNbad]

Thanks. I have enough HC-110 for about another hundred rolls, been exploring Rodinal but always interested in whats next.

 

[MattKing]

It depends on the kettle/mixing container.
I pour from my 6 litre mixing container into a robust 2 litre measuring graduate with a wide mouth, good handle and pouring spout that helps create an easily controllable small stream of flow.
Then I pour carefully from that graduate into the funnel.

 

[Truzi]

I use a cheap stand and ring clamp that I bought from Amazon for when I pour solutions into a bottle.
Freeing up a hand can help you control the pouring.

You may be able to adapt it for filling a bag.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/21wdSkz8rIS._SY445_SX342_QL70_ML2_.jpg

 

[jay moussy]

^^ yes on post # 8

I will need a mid-size, easy pour, intermediate vessel

 

[laser]

It would be better to use full glass bottles. Full glass bottles are reliable, inexpensive, and always better oxygen barrier. Fill the air space in bottles with glass marbles. What could be better?

DO NOT use beverage bottles. I have first hand knowledge of a photographer using PET pop bottles for chemicals that resulted in poisoning two children.

 

[Steven Lee]

Meh. Flexible bags purpose-designed to be impenetrable by oxygen are miles better than glass bottles, primarily due to convenience. No need to mess with marbles, you never have any fresh oxygen getting into the bag: from the beginning until it's empty.

 

[cramej]

I recently put Dektol in some StopLoss bags using a silicone funnel that just happened to fit fairly good on the spout. Make sure you inflate the bags before filing. Very little spillage but needed some venting by way of a little straw. The bags are very nice.

 

[laser]

I looked at the "Stop-Loss" site assuming I undervalued the benefits that others were reporting. I hoped it was a better material. I was disappointed that they don't tell what the construction materials are other than there are 3 materials. Also, it isn't suitable for many solvents meaning the materials are reactive or soluble. Users should realize that silver halide emulsions are very sensitive to parts per million/billion of some elements and materials. Since the bags are made for a very robust (crude) application changes in manufacturing could occur without having any influence on the intended paint application but might harm photographic applications. I have seen hundreds (thousands?) of materials that were not suitable for photographic use ranging from paper products to plastics to soaps. Glass's photographic inactivity has far less risk. Just saying. Ignore if you wish.

 

[Besk]

I can't imagine that they would be easier to use than glass bottles. Oxygen infiltration degrades Xtol type developers.

 

[pentaxuser]

It depends on the kettle/mixing container.
I pour from my 6 litre mixing container into a robust 2 litre measuring graduate with a wide mouth, good handle and pouring spout that helps create an easily controllable small stream of flow.
Then I pour carefully from that graduate into the funnel.

I do exactly the same except for the last part involving a funnel. The winebags I use have a neck of about 25mm or one inch and that seems plenty wide enough to pour a controllable stream into it.

I avoid this operation until at least 12 noon on New Year's Day but apart from that everything seems to go fine

jay moussy, unless the neck of your bag is much smaller than this you may be overthinking the problems

pentaxuser

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Xtol?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Once I've run through all this Xtol that I have, I'll have to give Legacy Pro a go... A bit pricy up here, though. By the time I get through all my Xtol, I'll be retired... and I'll really be feeling the pinch then!

 

[Sal Santamaura]

It would be better to use full glass bottles. Full glass bottles are reliable, inexpensive, and always better oxygen barrier. Fill the air space in bottles with glass marbles. What could be better?

DO NOT use beverage bottles. I have first hand knowledge of a photographer using PET pop bottles for chemicals that resulted in poisoning two children.

Meh. Flexible bags purpose-designed to be impenetrable by oxygen are miles better than glass bottles, primarily due to convenience. No need to mess with marbles, you never have any fresh oxygen getting into the bag: from the beginning until it's empty.

I find it entertaining that the one-month PHOTRIO member about whose background we know nothing contradicts the Kodak retiree who was in charge of multiple product programs, including at least one developer, and who literally wrote the book on making Kodak film.

 

[runswithsizzers]

Five one-liter bags, venting out air space and recapping.
Eco Pro 1:1

Don't judge, all new-to me, I am graduating from Rodinal - but not leaving the church, just exploring...

You are not diluting the whole batch to 1:1 before storage, are you?
I believe the stock solution has a much better shelf life, and the LegacyPro instructions say to "Store mixed solution at full strength."

 

[Sirius Glass]

I find it entertaining that the one-month PHOTRIO member about whose background we know nothing contradicts the Kodak retiree who was in charge of multiple product programs, including at least one developer, and who literally wrote the book on making Kodak film.

I noticed that same pattern. I guess those of us who have gained practical and industrial knowledge are supposed to stop posting, leave the website and let the lunatics take over the asylum.

 

[Steven Lee]

I find it entertaining that the one-month PHOTRIO member about whose background we know nothing contradicts the Kodak retiree who was in charge of multiple product programs, including at least one developer, and who literally wrote the book on making Kodak film.

You should not be finding it entertaining. Instead, you should apply the principle of charity and interpret a stranger's words in a most rational way possible. Then, you may consider re-reading my comment more carefully to discover that a) there is no contradiction because I did not argue against the glass, and b) it is freaking obvious that a flexible bag is just more convenient than a bottle because one doesn't have to mess with the marbles.

Besides, does it really take a chemical engineering degree and a successful career at Kodak to compare two household items designed to be used by high school dropouts?

 

[Sal Santamaura]

You should...

You're just full of should, aren't you?

...I did not argue against the glass...

On the contrary, you explicitly did.

...a flexible bag is just more convenient than a bottle because one doesn't have to mess with the marbles...

The OP is interested in storing an XTOL clone, a developer highly susceptible to degradation when not isolated from oxygen (not to mention iron, but that's a separate subject). Convenience is nice, but not the ultimate consideration. Marbles are one way to keep out oxygen, but there are others. Searching the archive at PHOTRIO would reveal any number of threads on this subject, many of which include my posts describing the 20 250ml Boston Round glass bottles I use to store five liters of XTOL stock. Each bottle is used for a single batch of film, thereby going from full to empty and never needing ancillary oxygen elimination methods.

...does it really take a chemical engineering degree and a successful career at Kodak to compare two household items designed to be used by high school dropouts?

I never visit the "Introduce Yourself to the PHOTRIO Community" category. It's much more fruitful to "meet" new members in regular threads and observe how they interact with / treat those like Bob Shanebrook who really know about photography. This has not been a propitious introduction.

 

[Steven Lee]

@Sal Santamaura Noted. I wanted to share my personal (and extremely positive) experience of upgrading from painful glass bottles with marbles to painless bags. I've been using them for storing Xtol for over a year without any side effects that my densitometer could pick up. Seemed to be exactly the use case mentioned in the thread title, so I stupidly assumed that my experience was relevant and worth mentioning.

But thank you for showing me the way! I clearly see now that maintaining the pecking order is of paramount importance here, so it will probably be wiser to go back to read-only mode I've been using this site in.

This has not been a propitious introduction.

You are right, it hasn't been.

 

[jay moussy]

You are not diluting the whole batch to 1:1 before storage, are you?
I believe the stock solution has a much better shelf life, and the LegacyPro instructions say to "Store mixed solution at full strength."

No! I will make my 5 l stock batch as instructed.

I was mentioning 1:1 as a way to say that my use will be one-shot, standard work solution - until I understand replenishing better.

I too would prefer glass, but the marble (or inert gas), I do not see myself doing that.